Violent Delights, Violent Ends: The Return
by A Thousand Undiscovered Stars
Summary: This is a continuation of my story Violent Delights, Violent Ends. The Cullens have just returned to their home in Forks, following a tense few days reading New Moon. What they didn't expect is that they have a visitor waiting for them. How will Bella react to their return, and how will the Cullens react to the changes that she's gone through while they were gone? Bella/Edward. AU.
1. The Return: Part One

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters or ideas pertaining to the Twilight Saga. All characters are the sole property of Stephenie Meyer.**

**A/N: Hi, everyone. As promised, here is the continuation of Violent Delights, Violent Ends. I'm sorry about how long it took, I've just really been having trouble getting inspired for this chapter. For those of you who don't know, you can find all of the chapters for my story Violent Delights, Violent Ends in a Google Drive using the username: athousandundiscoveredstars and the password: twilight2013. Now, on with the story!**

**The Return, Part I**

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It shouldn't be long now. They ought be well on their way, at this point, all things considered. I sighed. Things had become such a mess, and it was nearly inconceivable to me how utterly senseless it all was.

My lips quirked up into a slight, wry smile. Their reaction to the… unexpected… reception that they were going to return to would be amusing, however. A tremor of pain shot through me, and I put a hand to my chest to calm myself. _Soon_, a small voice in the back of my mind whispered. _Very soon. Not much longer to go now._

Things were going to be different this time. I was different this time. I was stronger, and I could stand up to pain now. I had been weak and naïve, but I wasn't that person anymore. I could honestly say that I was a better person, today, than I was at any other point in my life. I was letting my inner strength show now. That didn't mean I would turn them away. No, I could never do that. I wouldn't say I couldn't live without them – not anymore, at least. I could live without them – I just didn't want to.

Everything had already changed, and I felt more and more alive every moment. A tingle of electricity seemed to spread through my body, and a lazy smile crossed my face. It was time. They were here.

Alice

As we ran the last few miles into Forks, we argued about whether or not we should stop by our house and grab a couple cars to take to Bella's. Of course, we also wondered whether we should wait for her at her house, or if we could meet up on the border with Jacob as he drove her home. In the end, it was decided that we would be seen as more peaceable and less conspicuous if we got cars and waited at the Swan house.

We were in such a hurry to get the cars and go that we were in the house to get the keys before we took notice of the slightest thing out of place. So, it was with a bit more than a small amount of shock that we registered the voice that rang out from behind us.

"What? You're not even going to say 'hello' after it's been months since we've seen each other?" The voice was strong, confident, but also soft somehow. The way that she – because the voice was undeniably female – spoke like she knew us better than anyone, like she loved us more than anyone ever could, but also like she was the familiar stranger that you feel you've met before yet is completely different than what you expect them to appear as. It was as though I knew her absolutely and completely, but at the same time I'd never met this person before…

I was the first to turn, and I was the first to fall to my knees on the floor, my hand covering my mouth in shock at what I saw before me. There, perched lightly atop the rarely-used dining table, one eyebrow raised, a small, amused smile hovering on her lips, and a mix of fondness, bright excitement, and aching sadness – all of which was eclipsed by the love that shone in her eyes for us – was someone we didn't expect to see, someone we had betrayed, someone we loved, and someone we expected to be recovering from a near-drowning. My best friend. My sister. Bella.

Through my shock, I could just hear the gasps and soft cries of amazement – along with the sound of six other pairs of knees hitting the ground – of my family. I could hardly believe my eyes as I drank in the sight of her with a desperation that was foreign to me. And, again, I was surprised because the sight before me was nothing like what I had expected to see.

She was wearing a pair of perfectly-fitting dark wash jeans; a thick, black, cotton tank top; a Nike running jacket that was completely black; a pair of black, knee-high, suede, stiletto boots with 4" heels; and black, silk choker necklace, from which hung a silver angel's wing. It wasn't her clothes that shocked me the most, though I was surprised – it was her body that most caught me off guard.

Before, Bella had been slender, but there had been no real muscle tone on her. She had been nearly as pale as we were, which was a true accomplishment. My sister had also always been extremely clumsy, to the point that she could trip over thin air. More than that, she had always held herself with a kind of hesitance and self-doubt, which hung about her person. And that girl – for she was truly still a girl, then – was gone now, nowhere to be seen in the person sitting before me.

Now, Bella held herself in a way that suggested grace and power, even in her stillness. Her entire body also seemed to be covered in a layer of lithe muscle, and her skin was two shades darker than before, leaving it more cream than ivory. My sister's jaw line was slightly more defined now, the last remnants of baby fat gone from her face, and her eyes held an inner fire that I had only ever seen sparks of before we had left. Sitting before us, her face calm but her eyes conflicted, was a woman – young but fierce, the strength and power in her eyes and bearing impressive.

I was reminded, suddenly, of a paragraph in S.M's last letter to us: _"What you need to know is this: If you choose to return, things will be different. In fact, things have already changed. I won't say more. All that you need to know is that Bella is neither the same girl you left behind, nor the girl you read about at the end of this book."_

"Bella?" I whispered, her name slipping from my lips without my permission. I was in awe at the person before me, and I felt all of my longing and love to feel her friendship again come welling up in me.

She looked at me and gave a small smile. "Hello, Alice," she murmured, looking at me with kind eyes, though that same confusing mixture of excitement, sadness, and love shining in her chocolate eyes.

I didn't know what to do. I wanted desperately to jump up and hug her, but something was telling me to be cautious. There were a hundred questions swirling through my mind. Bella should have been with Jacob right now, having just jumped from the cliffs in La Push, yet I got the feeling that she had been waiting here for us for a while now, almost like… almost like she knew that we were coming. It was silent, and it appeared that none of the others knew what to do or say, either.

Bella gave a half-smile, looking into my eyes, which I'm sure clearly showed my confusion and curiosity. "You're wondering why I'm here," she stated, more than asked.

I nodded hesitantly, almost afraid to break the silence. It was eerie, to tell the truth, but I was scared of Bella's reaction to our return. For the moment, it was easier to let her control the conversation as it were, rather than rushing into risking her well-deserved potential refusal of our apologies. I was no less determined to redeem myself in her eyes, but I had missed her so much…

I was drawn from my thoughts as Bella slipped down from the top of the dining table and moved easily to take a seat at one of it. She sighed, running a hand through her silky, waist-length, mahogany locks. "You may as well take seats and turn the light on," she motioned at the remaining seven seats that circled the table.

Instantly, we moved to do as she said. Carlisle sat at the opposite end of the table from Bella, with Esme and Edward on his right and left, respectively. Jasper took the seat next to Edward, while Emmett took the middle-right seat that was next to Esme. Lastly, Rose took the seat to Bella's left, leaving me to sit at her right-hand side.

The room felt like it was being charged with electricity, all of us waiting to see who would speak first, all of us desperate to plead for forgiveness, all while Bella watched us with an inscrutable expression. Finally, Carlisle took the initiative and managed to utter a few still-shocked words. "Bella, may I say what a pleasure it is to see you again?" he spoke softly, a certain reverence in his eyes as he looked upon his youngest daughter once more.

Bella chuckled quietly, but it was a humorless sound. "Tell me, how did you enjoy the book?" she asked, shocking us all once more.

"How did you…" Jasper trailed off, wondering how Bella could know that S.M sent us that book.

She shook her head, a wry smile on her face, and raised one eyebrow at us. "Did you really think that she would trust all of you to be the ones who held all the knowledge?" she asked calmly, and we lowered our heads. Bella got up and crossed over to the coffee table, retrieving a small black bag before returning to her seat.

I wasn't sure if I was surprised or not when Bella removed a book from the bag, and it was an (seemingly) identical copy to the book that we had received from S.M – New Moon. "I suppose a bit of an explanation is in order," she mused quietly. "The simplest way to put it is this: almost nothing following the third chapter of this book is valid in terms of the events that happened."

Rose drew in a light breath, and her eyes were alight with realization when I glanced at her. "You got your book earlier than us – a lot earlier, I would guess, didn't you?" she ventured.

Bella nodded in agreement. "I received my copy of the book a month after you all left." My eyes widened at that piece of news. "After that, things changed… I changed. I woke up earlier than I would have otherwise, and I pulled myself together because that's what I had to do. There was no time for me to fall apart because I was too busy working to hold everything together. I met with the wolves, and we worked out a plan to catch Victoria."

We all gasped, looking at her with wide eyes. "Did you catch her?" "Are you okay?" "Is she dead?" "Is she still out there?" It was impossible to tell who was asking which question, and Bella didn't speak until we all fell quiet.

"We did catch her. Yes, I'm okay. She is dead, so, no, she's not still out there," Bella answered wryly, a slight smile curving the corners of her lips upwards as the seven of us simultaneously sighed in relief. Her eyes dimmed, though, when she spoke again. "I realized something in the past several months… I haven't been the person that I should have been in the past, and I really don't like who I was before."

Esme frowned, her eyes filled with love and concern for her youngest child. "What do you mean, Bella? There's nothing wrong with who you were, sweetheart," she murmured in confusion.

My sister sighed and shook her head, a small chuckle escaping her. "Yes, there was, Esme. I was weak before, and I put everything that I had into this family – and it came back to haunt me, after you all left." She shook her head once more, a slight shiver running down her spine. "I let all of you, in one way or another, control my life. Especially you, Edward," she motioned towards my bronze-haired brother.

He winced, lowering his head slightly but continuing to meet her inscrutable gaze. "I won't say I was without fault, but realizing it has made me look at you differently. Maybe that's really what all the problems were about anyway. You thought that you knew what was best, and I had no problems just going along with whatever it was that you wanted. I was in love, and I couldn't seem to help myself…"

I watched Bella carefully. It sounded almost like… almost like she was saying goodbye. "That's different, now. I do love you, all of you, even more than I did the day you left, but I'm not the same girl you left behind – not anymore. I want all of you in my life, but I don't need you. If you leave again… I'll be sad, but it's not going to break me because I'm not going to let it. I do love you, but I don't trust you. You have to earn that, and I'm not sure how long it will take."

I couldn't help myself from speaking up. "I understand that, Bella, but… You will give us the chance, won't you? You'll let us have an opportunity to earn your trust back?" I asked hopefully, and she smiled at me – the first real smile I'd seen on her face since the day of her 18th birthday.

"I told you, Alice, I do love all of you. You'll have a chance, but after this you won't get another," she warned us, before standing slowly and taking a step towards me. I'm not certain what I thought she might do, but she caught me completely off guard when she leant down and wrapped me in a hug. "I missed you, sister," she murmured into my shoulder, and I felt my breath hitch and my eyes fill with tears that would never fall.

"I missed you, too, Bella," I choked out, my arms wrapping around her, and a sob shuddering through me. "I love you, too," I muttered into her neck, taking comfort in her embrace.

After a moment, we both pulled back and Bella retook her seat, a small smile on her face. "Besides, if I didn't want to give you all a chance, I wouldn't have given S.M the go ahead to send you the book," she mentioned after a second, and my jaw dropped.

"W-what?" Carlisle stuttered just a bit, and her smile widened. "You mean… you told her to send us the book?" he repeated.

Bella gave a half-smile, her eyes shining with wry amusement. "I told you before… Did you really think that she would trust all of you to hold all the information? She sent me the book first, along with a way to contact her. She allowed me to decide whether I wanted you to receive a copy of the book. It could have gone one of three ways. The other two options, besides the one that you chose, were that: a) I could have chosen not to give you another chance, and you would never have known anything about the book, or b) You would have received and read the book, but decided to stay away and left things as they were, essentially."

I was stunned, but then… I was thankful. It would have been all too easy for Bella to simply shut us out of her life completely, allowing us to remain ignorant of all that could have gone wrong. Instead, she chose to let us in and give us a chance to learn from our mistakes. "Thank you," I whispered, reaching out to take Bella's hand in my own and squeeze it lightly.

She returned my smile with a small one of her own. "I can live without you, now. The difference is… I don't want to. I want all of you in my life, but not the way that things were before." Bella stood from the table, and we all rose automatically after her. "I should be going. Charlie is working the night shift tonight, but I'd like to make myself something for dinner. Would anyone object to me returning in the morning so that we can speak more?"

Esme smiled warmly. "You're always welcome here at any time, dear. Perhaps you'll let me fix you something for breakfast in the morning?" she asked hopefully, and Bella laughed.

"I'd like that, thank you, Esme," Bella chuckled, moving forward to hug our mother. After she was released, my sister moved to hug each of us until she came to a stop before my brother. Edward was clearly struggling to remain in place, waiting for a sign of consent from Bella before he could hold her in his arms once more. She seemed to deliberate but, finally, she leaned up and kissed him chastely on the cheek. "Good night, Edward," she murmured.

As she walked towards the door, Bella turned to face us one last time. "Good night, everyone." She was about to leave, but something occurred to me then.

"Wait! Bella, how are you going to get home? I didn't see your truck out front," I said, confused. Surely she didn't intend to walk all the way home, did she?

She laughed once, shaking her head. "Come outside for a minute." We followed her and watched as she walked to the tree line opposite from where we entered the clearing that surrounded the house. She disappeared from sight for a moment before we heard a sudden eruption of noise. It sounded almost like…

Bella rode out of the trees on a black Suzuki GSX1250FA. Bella got a motorcycle. My jaw dropped, but from the corner of my eye I could see Rose's wide grin. Emmett whistled loudly, and Jazz hummed in approval. I could tell the Carlisle and Esme were a little concerned, but they wouldn't say anything to her about it – though they might ask her to be careful. Then, I looked at Edward. He seemed to be fighting with himself, and I see it in his eyes – that burning desire to take control and demand that she get off that thing at once, but he controlled himself and settled on looking worried.

She stopped in front of us, letting the bike idle, and pulled her helmet off the handlebars to hold it in her hands. "I decided that I really wanted to give motorcycle-riding a chance, but I didn't want to go and pick up those bikes that were mentioned in the book. Instead, I sat Charlie down and had a long talk with him about it, and I got this in Tacoma in December. Jacob and the Pack helped me learn how to ride it, and, contrary to the events in the book, I've only made one trip to the emergency room for a minor cut on my arm, which I got after the only time that I fell." Her voice was matter-of-fact, and I smiled at the newfound confidence that seemed to radiate out from her.

"I guess I know how you'll be getting home, now," I grinned and Bella smiled back at me.

"One more thing," she said, pausing as she went to put on her helmet. "My window isn't open to visitors anymore. If you really need to speak with me, you can call my cell phone and I'll meet you outside. There are also curtains, now, and I would really appreciate it if everyone would refrain from hanging around outside my house at night," she warned us, and Edward hung his head. I mentally snorted. _Already planning on invading her privacy and spying on her while she sleeps?_

Carlisle smiled. "Of course, Bella. May we have your number in case something was to come up?" he asked politely. She recited her cell number, and we all stood there watching as she disappeared from view along the long, winding drive.

As we filed back into the house, I couldn't help but smile. Things were going to be different – as they should be – and it was going to take time to repair our bonds with Bella, but I had a feeling that everything was going to be okay. Because we were home, and we were never leaving her behind again.

**To Be Continued.**

**A/N: I apologize for the wait. I've been having some trouble with this chapter, and I'm still not completely happy with it but I can't see it getting any better any time soon. The next chapter will hold the majority of the remaining content, but there will be a few more, short chapters after that. Thanks for reading, everyone! **

**~ Katharine**


	2. The Return: Part Two

**The Return, Part II**

Alice

The next morning, I waited eagerly on the porch of the house. Bella was about to pull up at the house. I could hear her bike approaching in the distance, and she would arrive in the next minute, just as I had seen.

Inside, the rest of the family was waiting in the living room. We were all nervous about the conversation that we planned to have with her. It would have been too easy to think that she was perfectly fine, and we weren't that naïve. No matter how much of an improvement she'd made, there had to have been some serious ramifications of our abandonment of her—besides, she admitted that she didn't receive the book until a month after we left.

The main thing that we wanted to speak to her about was that dreadful disease that Carlisle had told us about—Broken Heart Syndrome. It was horrifying to all of us that she may be suffering from this terrible illness. At the same time, we were terrified to think that she could die from it, all without ever realizing that she was suffering from any malady at all. My chest ached with pain at that thought.

I looked up at the sound of Bella's motorcycle drawing close, as she was just about to come around the final corner of the drive. When she appeared, my eyes hungrily drank in the sight of her, there on her motorcycle. She expertly skidded to a stop, whipping the bike around to rest mere feet in front of the steps. My jaw dropped open, an incredulous smile forming on my face at her skill.

She removed her helmet and shook out her hair, running a hand through her mahogany locks. When she looked and saw me, a gentle smile formed on her face. "Hi, Alice," she said softly.

I flitted forward, hesitating just before I wrapped her in a hug. After all, I couldn't be sure that it would be welcomed. She instantly put a wide smile on my house, however, when she stepped forward to meet me and wrapped me in her warm embrace.

When we pulled away, I grinned at her. "Everyone else is inside, and Esme's putting your breakfast on the table now," I informed her as we walked up the steps. "And we were hoping that we could discuss something with you while you eat."

She agreed, and we continued into the house, where we found the rest of the family in their seats at the dining table. Everyone was sitting in the same places that we'd held the previous night, so I reached out and gave Bella's hand a squeeze once we sat down.

As my sister started to eat, there was a moment of silence, as we all exchanged loaded looks. No one was quite sure where to start, but Rose eventually got fed up with our hesitancy.

With a sigh, she addressed Bella quietly. "We wanted to speak with you about something that concerned us when we were reading the book. It's something serious, and we're worried about you," Rosalie said softly.

After she had swallowed a bite of her breakfast—eggs and whole-wheat toast with butter—Bella chuckled under her breath. "I have a feeling that I know exactly what you're talking about, but please go on," she invited us, reaching a hand into her pocket.

Carlisle took over then. "There is a rare condition called Takotsubo Cardiomyopathy, or Broken Heart Syndrome," he began delicately. "This is a temporary heart condition brought on by extreme, negative emotions. In many cases it's caused by the death of a loved one or…it's caused by a broken heart, hence its name."

We all exchanged a concerned glance after Carlisle finished. "We're worried that you may have contracted this illness, due to the way that we abandoned you," Esme said worriedly.

Bella surprised us all by laughing quietly, a small smile on her face. Her eyes seemed to hold a secret, and we watched her incredulously. Didn't she understand?

"Bella, this disease could kill you, if it's not properly treated," I choked out, pain lashing through me at the thought of losing my sister, my best friend.

She sobered up then, reaching for my hand. "I know, Alice, I'm sorry. It is a rare condition, Carlisle, but it's not unheard of. Did you know that I took a few basic medical classes in the summer, when I was in Phoenix?" she asked suddenly.

A wave of confusion washed over me. "No, we didn't know that," I answered slowly, wondering where she was going with this.

"When the instructor was lecturing about heart-attacks, he mentioned that there was a disease with remarkably similar symptoms, though it was a completely unrelated illness. I thought that it was incredible, at the time, so it stuck with me," Bella murmured.

Jasper raised one eyebrow in surprise. "You learned about Broken Heart Syndrome?" he asked.

She nodded in agreement. "When I read New Moon, when I really thought about everything that I'd been feeling, what I still felt…it all started to make sense." Bella shrugged.

"Does that mean that you'll allow me to examine you?" Carlisle asked hopefully, leaning forward slightly. "You clearly understand how serious this is, and while we won't force you, we would all feel immensely better knowing that you don't have this terrible ailment."

Bella's smile widened and she shook her head at us. "There's no need. I don't have Broken Heart Syndrome," she told us, simultaneously pulling her hand from her pocket and resting it atop the table. I noticed that she had something wrapped tightly in her hand, and I wondered what it was.

"You don't?" Emmett asked, his relief evident in his voice, as he asked for a confirmation of her well-being.

"No, I don't," Bella shook her head, and we relaxed before she went on, "but I did."

We all froze. "W-what?" Edward stuttered, fear and pain lacing his shaky voice—the same fear, the same pain that locked each of us in place. "What do you mean, Bella?"

"I did have Broken Heart Syndrome," she repeated. "I went to the hospital in Seattle when I remembered what I'd learned, when I'd compared my knowledge of the disease to my own symptoms. They performed the necessary tests, and they confirmed my suspicions. I did have Broken Heart Syndrome, but I don't anymore," Bella assured us strongly.

I gulped down a deep breath. "Are you sure?" I asked, and my voice was strained. I couldn't bear it if there was even the slightest chance that she was still afflicted with that sickness.

Her brown eyes flashed to meet mine, and her smile softened. "I'm absolutely sure. After they diagnosed me, they released me to go home, but I received a prescription that they said would help. The prescription helped reduce the stress on my heart while I recovered, and I received a clean bill of health when I went in for my last examination a month ago," Bella told us gently, uncurling her fingers from the object in her hand, revealing an empty prescription bottle. "I was almost certain that, as you read, Carlisle would figure it, so I brought this with me," she said, setting the distinctive, orange bottle down on the table.

A thorny stab of pain pierced my heart, even as a weight seemed to be lifted from my shoulders. My sister was healthy, but she had suffered through that terrible illness because of us. I felt a wave of guilt crash over me, and I lowered my head a little.

"We're—so sorry, Bella," Rose choked out, clinging to Emmett with one hand and reaching out for Bella with the other. My sisters' hands locked together, and I swallowed thickly.

Bella shook her head. "I won't say that it's okay, but I'm healthy now. I don't want any of you to let this guilt consume you. That's not what I want, at all. But I do want you to remember the pain that your actions can cause…" she trailed off, eyeing Edward as she said that last part.

He took a deep breath. "I understand, Bella," he breathed. "I think we all do. I've already told my family some of this, but I want you to know this, too."

Bella nodded. "You can say whatever you need to, Edward, I'm listening," she assured him. "I have a few things I'd like to say to all of you, as well."

"Okay," Edward started. "First, I want you to know that I've realized just how wrong my actions have been in the past. I should never have treated you the way that I did, and I'm so incredibly sorry for that. I was overly possessive, controlling…" He grimaced as the words left his lips, and it was obvious how difficult this was for him.

"I accept your apology, Edward, but I don't forgive you—not yet, at least," she informed him, a slight frown on her face. "You hurt me, far more than you ever could have imagined and there's more that I want to say on that subject, but I'll wait until you're finished."

Edward nodded, his grimace still in place. "I also want you to know that every word I spoke to you in forest was a lie. I do love you, and I always will. That was the absolute blackest form of blasphemy I could ever commit, when I told you that I didn't want you."

A small half-smile formed on Bella's face. "I know that you love me, Edward, and I'll explain that later, as well." The rest of the family exchanged small smiles. We were glad that she figured it out, no matter how mad we were at the idiotic, bronze-haired vampire she loved.

"I know how many mistakes that I've made, and I'm sure that I'll make more of them in the future. However, I'm going to do my absolute best to be a better man, to be the man that I should have been. It's not going to happen overnight, but every day I'm going to try to be that man a little more than I was the day before—until, one day, I'm finally there," he vowed strongly.

Bella smiled gently. "You're right, it won't happen overnight, but it's worth it," she murmured. "I experienced something similar to you, and I realized that I really wasn't who I wanted to be, someone I could be proud of. It's going to take a while, and you're going to slip up, but I'm already proud of you for recognizing that you need to change."

Edward smiled a true smile for the first time since we left, and he hesitantly got up to approach Bella. When she nodded her head slightly, he leaned down and kissed her cheek. "Thank you, Bella," he said reverently, humming low in his throat. "You truly are an angel," he said sincerely, but Bella's eyes flashed with warning.

"No, Edward, I'm not," she warned him, and then she sighed once she saw his confused expression. "I believe it's my turn now," she muttered.

Esme shook her head. "What do you mean, Bella?" Surely, she didn't think that she had anything to apologize for, after what we had done to her?

My sister chuckled humorlessly. "I told you that I didn't like who I was before, and I didn't. When Edward spoke to me in the forest, he played on every one of my insecurities…"

Edward flinched, and we all winced at her words. It was true. We all knew how insecure Bella was, though we could never understand it. Truthfully, we often ignored her insecurities, simply because we believed them to be silly. I felt guilty for that now because I could see that we had just made it worse.

"But I let him do that to me. I allowed him to have that power over me, just as I've allowed so many people to have power over me, all because I never dealt with my problems. I told you once before," Bella started, nodding to Edward, "that I'm good at repressing unpleasant things, and that's a large portion of the problem."

Carlisle's eyes widened. "You were repressing things from your past, and they festered, grew into bigger issues eventually," he frowned, and Bella nodded in agreement.

"Yes, that's exactly what happened. You all know that Renee left Forks with me when I was a year old, and I came to visit Charlie every summer. But what you don't know is that, even when I was here, we didn't spend a lot of time together. I know that Charlie loves me, but he just had no idea what to do with me. So, I spent a lot of time alone in the house, and eventually I started to feel like he really just didn't want me," Bella shrugged, a sad smile on her face.

It felt like my heart was breaking. "I'm sorry, Bella," I murmured, squeezing her hand in silent support.

She shook her head. "It's all right, Alice, I know better now. The point is that, that feeling stayed with me and I stopped trusting people after that. I didn't feel worthy, and I became extremely introverted due to that fact. It was the same thing with my will power.

When I was growing up, I took care of both Renee and myself from a young age, and I didn't mind doing it but I never realized how much I let that affect me. I started to feel like I couldn't say "no," to anyone, so I let myself be pushed into doing things I didn't enjoy. I just pushed down that feeling until it became a part of me. You all call me selfless and I'm not self-deprecating enough to say that's not a portion of it, but I took it too far."

I hung my head a little. "I'm sorry for that, Bella, because I know that I used it against you whenever I wanted to go shopping," I apologized guiltily.

She smiled a little. "It's okay, Alice. That was a part of it, but I also went because I wanted to make you happy. So, how about we make a deal? I'll go shopping with you once a month, and you'll go to the bookstore with me once a month, okay?" she offered, and I grinned widely.

"I'll take it," I agreed happily. I enjoyed shopping with Bella, even though she hated it, and I was glad that she was willing to indulge me every once in a while. At the same time, I was happy that I could join her in doing something that she would enjoy, even though I rarely bothered to pick up a book and read, since many of them mirrored one another.

"All of that turned me into someone that I really didn't like," she continued. "I was so convinced of my worthlessness that I let everyone walk all over me, and I didn't realize just where I was going wrong with all of the guys that took an interest in me," she said wryly.

Rose smiled a little. "So, does that mean you won't be needing our lessons?" she teased gently. "Alice and I were all prepared to educate you," she said genuinely.

Bella returned her smile. "No, I don't think I will be needing them, but if I have a question I'll ask the two of you," she reassured her. "I finally realized that the only way that I was going to get Mike to leave me alone was to stop being friends with, after I'd already told him twice that I only wanted to be friends with him and that I was never going to be interested in dating him."

Emmett and Jasper whooped, while Edward simply wore a satisfied smile and Carlisle nodded firmly. None of the boys had been happy with Mike's over-attentiveness towards Bella in the book.

"Actually, the only two people from school that I speak to are Angela and Ben," Bella mused. "The others weren't worth my time because none of them were really my friends," she told us, and a proud smile overtook my features. She was right, after all.

"I'm proud of you, darling," Esme told her happily. "I'm so glad that you finally see that you are worth it." That was something that had bothered all of us.

Bella shook her head. "I still have some trouble with it every now and then, but I know how to talk about it now. Before, everything that I tried to suppress threatened to overwhelm me, if I ever tried to let any of it out. I let it consume me, without even thinking about it."

A sad smile formed on my face, but I was still confused. "I am glad that you've come to realize all this, but why should it make you feel sorry?" I wondered aloud, bewildered.

Her eyes flashed to mine, and the corner of her mouth curled up before she directed her attention to Edward. "One of the main things that I felt that I could fault you for, after you left, was your lack of faith in my love…"

Edward lowered his head, and I recalled the significant difference between the strength of Bella's love and the strength of Edward's love. The dissimilarity was nearly comical, though he did love her in his way.

My brother opened his mouth—no doubt to apologize—but Bella beat him to it, when she continued. "…until I realized that I had done the same thing to you," she finished, stunning us all.

"W-what?" Edward stuttered, his eyes wide as he shook his head. "What could you possibly mean by that, Bella? I-I don't—" he stammered, shocked speechless.

Bella laughed quietly. "Don't you see it?" she asked rhetorically. "That day in the forest, it was all absolutely avoidable. You were weak that day, Edward…" she trailed off, rising to her feet and slowly walking around the table to stand behind his chair and place her hands on his shoulders.

Edward's breath caught in his throat. "I…you saw that?" he whispered.

Bella hummed low in her throat. "I did, although I didn't realize it until I thought it over, after I started coming to terms with all of my true flaws, rather than my imagined ones. It wouldn't have taken much to break your resolve and make you stay, but… I couldn't see it then; I was too blinded by my own sense of worthlessness. I…" She hesitated, a slight frown curving her lips downward.

Bella absentmindedly ran her hand through her hair before tracing the scar from James' bite. "I knew that you loved me, but I always felt like it was too good to be true, like you were too good to be true. From reading the book, you know why I let you go so easily. But what you don't realize is that I _always_ felt like that. I was always so absolutely convinced that I was unworthy of you that I never expected your love to last. I allowed my insecurities to become more important than you, more important that your love," she confessed, and my mouth fell open.

We were all stunned into silence, but I felt as though I was having an epiphany. It made a lot of sense. Bella had always been extraordinarily self-conscious and insecure. How could she trust in Edward's love for her, when she felt as though she didn't deserve it?

I was drawn from my stupor, when Bella moved. She leaned down and kissed Edward's cheek tenderly. I almost felt as though I should look away. "I'm sorry, too," she murmured before drifting back to her seat.

"I—" Edward was clearly overwhelmed, we all were. "It's all right, Bella. I can absolutely forgive your doubts because I did nothing to dispel them. Without realizing it, I offered you a rejection in response to every acceptance you offered me," he said, and his eyes were alight with shame.

She smiled a little smile. "I think that we've had enough of remorse and apologies for one day. We don't need to dwell on all of it, we simply need to acknowledge it and move on," she pointed out.

Carlisle grinned at the truth and wisdom of her statement. "I agree," he said happily.

Bella smirked playfully. "Somehow, I doubt that this was all that you wished to speak to me about," she prompted us, after a moment of silence.

Jasper chuckled, glancing at me. "Actually, on a lighter note, we realized something when we were reading the books. Do you remember the dream that you had when you first realized what we are?"

Her eyes widened slightly. "Of course, why wouldn't I?" she asked curiously. I leaned forward eagerly. Did she not know? Not realize what it meant?

"Bella," I started, a small grin making itself known on my face, "there were things in that dream, that you couldn't possibly have known. You knew that we sparkled in the sun. You knew that your friend Jacob was a werewolf. Hell! You even knew what color he would be, once he was phased!" I laughed loudly, excitedly.

Bella was still a touch confused, but she was also amused. "So what?" she asked, a touch of exasperation in her voice.

Rose's eyes widened. "What do you mean, so what?" she asked incredulously. Did she truly not understand the significance of that?

Bella chuckled quietly. "Yes, so what. I've always had dreams like that," she shrugged and I looked at her in amazement.

"You've always had dreams like that? Bella, don't you understand what this means?" I asked her excitedly, starting to bounce in my seat. I could hardly believe it.

Her lips twitched at the corners. "No, I don't understand what it means. What has you so excited, Alice?" she wondered, amusement flickering in her eyes.

I couldn't contain myself as I sprung to my feet, reaching for Bella's hands and pulling her up with me. "Bella, this means that you have a power like mine!" I blurted out.

My sister gave a startled laugh. She clearly thought that I was joking, but when I didn't laugh her eyes widened. "You're serious…" she breathed in shock.

I grinned at her. "Of course, I'm serious. It's not exactly the same thing, but it's the closest I've ever seen or heard about before. This is… incredible, Bella. I…It means that I'm not alone," I whispered reverently. As much as I did love my gift, it was hard to be the only one to truly understand it—not even Edward could really know what it's like.

A soft smile appeared on Bella's face, and she shook her head at me. "I never really thought of it that way. It's like I said, I've always had those dreams. Whenever something important is going on in my life, if there's something I'm really focused on figuring out, I'll have one of those dreams. That's actually how I found out that Phil was going to propose to Renee. She had been worried that he was cheating on her because he was acting a little funny," she shrugged, and I laughed happily.

"Have you ever tried to have one of those dreams, make it come to you?" I demanded, trying to hold still. "Do you ever see anything when you're awake?"

"Slow down, Alice," she laughed. "I can make the dreams come to me, if I focus hard enough. Actually…" Bella trailed off, as though she was deciding whether she wanted to say something or not.

"What is it?" Rose asked gently, clearing her throat.

She smiled wryly. "Well, once I made the decision to have the book sent to you, I meditated the rest of the day. That night, I had a dream. I was standing in your living room, and there was a gigantic clock in front of me. The time on it was 9:17, the exact time that you all got here last night. I knew that it had to be at night because I noticed that it was dark outside, when I glanced out the window."

We drew in a collective breath. I hadn't been sure before just how accurate Bella's dreams could be, but for her to have gotten that much… I shook my head to clear my mind. "Are they always that accurate?" I added another question for her to answer, eagerly awaiting her reply.

Bella smiled, tilting her head to the side a bit. "My dreams are always accurate, but when I was younger I didn't think so," she responded, and she went on when she saw our confusion. "When I dream of things like this, I get mostly symbols, especially when I was younger. It took me a long time to figure out how to correctly interpret them, so I got a few things wrong in some ways. What I dreamed always came true, but I sometimes was wrong about how it would happen," she explained.

"This is incredible," Carlisle breathed. "I've never heard of a human having such use of such a gift, other than Alice, that is," he said in amazement.

Bella smiled at him before turning back to me. "As for your other question, no I don't see things when I'm awake. I just seem to have better instincts than other people. I meant what I said to you that day in the cafeteria, Edward. I knew that you were dangerous because I could feel it, but I could also feel that you weren't bad, though you thought you were."

Edward shook his head in automatic denial of her statement for a moment before he took a deep breath and grimaced. "I…I suppose you're right," he conceded. "I can be bad, but I try not to be. I'm capable of terrible things, but I don't act on them," he said slowly, and Bella rewarded him with a wide smile.

"Exactly," she agreed. Then, she glanced at the clock that hung on the wall behind Carlisle's seat. "This talk has been good for all of us, I think, and I've enjoyed spending this time with you, but it's time for it to come to a close," she murmured, her eyes flickering back to mine.

I smiled sadly. "We understand, Bella," I assured her, though I was unhappy that she would be leaving so soon.

She smiled at me, reaching out to pull me into a hug. "I am leaving, Alice, but all of you are coming with me," she informed us. "I spoke with Sam and Jacob last night, after I got home, and they want to meet with your family this morning."

I stiffened in my sister's arms, and tense hisses erupted around the room. None of us were exactly happy about the presence of the wolves, though we owed them more than we could ever repay for their help concerning Bella.

Esme spoke first. "Of course, we'll meet with them, Bella. Where are we going?" she asked calmly.

"They'd like to meet in the woods at the border, near the highway. I know where to go, so I'll be showing you the way," Bella responded as she pulled away from me and I felt Jasper's arms wrap around me from behind.

"Well, then," Carlisle smiled gently, "we should get going." The others rose as he did, and we all followed him outside. It took only a moment for Carlisle to retrieve our rarely-used Suburban—the only vehicle that we could all fit in, though I usually opted to sit in Jasper's lap, rather than the middle seat in the very back.

Bella walked over to her bike, and I was about to join my siblings in the Suburban before she called out to me. "Hey, how'd you like to go for a ride?" she asked with a teasing smile.

A surprised grin crossed my features. "Of course!" I agreed happily, dancing over to join her by her bike. Once she had it started, I took my place behind her and wrapped my arms around her waist.

Just before she slipped her helmet on, she turned to grin rakishly at Carlisle, knowing that he would hear her. "Try to keep up!" she laughed. Immediately afterward, we shot forward and I whooped playfully.

"You better hang on tight, spider monkey!" Bella yelled, and I could hear the elation in her voice. "We're about to speed up!" I held a bit tighter, on instinct, as we turned onto the highway. As soon as we were on the straightaway, the bike rocketed forward.

I let out a startled laugh, and Carlisle was, as Bella predicted, struggling to keep up. Obviously, she knew what she was doing with this bike because she wove around the curves that led to La Push, as though she'd been doing it her entire life.

"I can see why you love this so much!" I yelled, so that she would be able to hear me over the wind. Then, I leaned head on her shoulder and closed my eyes, simply enjoying the feeling of the wind rushing all around me. It was an incredible feeling!

Unsurprisingly, due to the speed at which we were traveling, we quickly arrived at the spot Bella was guiding us to. Of course, Bella and I pulled to a stop a full minute and thirty-seven seconds before Carlisle pulled up beside us. Both Bella's bike and our Suburban were tucked away just inside the trees, out of sight of the highway.

Once the family exited the Suburban, I flitted over to Jasper with a wide grin on my face. When I turned back around, Bella had removed her helmet and she was smirking at us. She tilted her head towards the trees, away from the road. "Come on," she told us, as she turned and began to walk farther into the forest.

We followed after her as she walked a path that was obviously very familiar to her. It didn't take long before I began to smell the presence of the wolves. I wrinkled my nose against the distinctly unpleasant odor. My family—those of us who were vampires, at least—all exchanged loaded looks and slowed our steps, but Bella strode confidently into the clearing that was just large enough to hold the five wolves and the eight of us.

The wolves, all of them in their furry forms, bounded forward as soon as Bella stepped into the clearing. As tense as that made us, it was amusing to see their tails wagging and their tongues lolling out of their mouths. The corners of my mouth twitched up into smiles, despite the tension radiating through my body.

My family and I hung back as Bella greeted the overgrown pups. After a moment, though, they turned and ran into the trees. Bella waited calmly in the center of the clearing, while we remained as we were. It didn't take them long to shift back into their human forms and return with wide smiles and wary eyes.

They formed a half-circle around Bella, and we were stunned when it was _Paul_ who stood by her side—naturally, Jacob lounged by her other side. My grip on Jasper tightened as the most hot-headed wolf of the bunch half-smirked, half-glared at us from her side.

I wasn't quite sure what we were in for, and I was suddenly significantly more uneasy about finding out. In the book, as close as Bella was to the wolves, I got the feeling that she was a hell of a lot closer to them, now. And I didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing, but we were about to find out. For better or for worse.

**To Be Continued.**

**A/N: Once again, I find myself in the position of having to apologize for spending too much time trying to get this chapter finished. I planned to make this chapter the last full chapter of the story, but I just kept thinking of new loose ends that needed to be tied up. So, I decided to go ahead and post this one. Hope everyone enjoys it!**

**~ Katharine**


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